ARTIFICIAL SHELL DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED

STATES.

BY D. G. BRINTON, M. D., OF WEST CHESTER, PA

IN the annual Smithsonian report for 1864, (pp. 370-374,) a description is given of an artificial shell deposit in Monmouth county, New Jersey. As this branch of American Archæology is of importance to both geologists and antiquarians, the following notes upon it may be of value to the students of each of these sciences. The exclusively artificial character of many of these deposits, even of very considerable size, was first prominently brought before the scientific public by Mr. Lardner Vanuxem, in the proceedings of the American Association of Geologists and Naturalists for 1840-'42, (pp. 21-23.) The existence of enormous accumulations of the shells of the Ostrea virginica and Venus mercenaria on the shores of the Chesapeake and its affluent streams, on the Jersey shore and Long Island, was discussed, and various proofs of their formation by the aboriginal tribes pointed out. These proofs may be briefly summed up as follows: First. Valves of the same animal are rarely found together. Second. Arrow-heads, fragments of pottery, and charcoal are mixed with the shells situ naturali. Third. The shells are broken, and frequently charred. Fourth. The substratum of the deposit is the same as the surrounding soil. Fifth. The deposits are at the mouth and shores of water-courses, where the shell-fish abound. Sixth. There is an absence of stratification and older fossils.

It seems hardly necessary to adduce evidence from the old voyagers to show that in the commissariat of the native coast tribes esculent shell-fish constituted an important item. Cabeza de Vaca describes the accolents of the Gulf of Mexico as dwelling in houses of mats, "built on heaps of oyster shells,” (Rsmusio Viaggi, tom. III, fol. 317,) and the first settlers of Maryland record, with pleasurable recollections, the "oisters, broil'd and stewed," that the savages offered them in profusion.-(Relation of Maryland, 1634, p. 18, in Shea's Southern Tracts.)

By far the majority of these monuments of a past race are mere refuse heaps. the debris of villages of an icthyophagous population, showing no indications of having been designedly collected in heaps, true analogues of the kjoekkenmoeddings of the age of stone; but in other instances it would appear that the Indians collected them into artificial mounds, forming a class of antiquities heretofore unnoticed by archæologists. They are found in great numbers along the southern coast, especially in Georgia and Florida, where I have examined many of them. At the landing of Fernandina, on Amelia island, the summit of the bluff is covered with a layer of artificially deposited shells, extending about two hundred yards upon the bay and one-fourth of a mile inland, varying in depth from one to four feet. The shells are in many places so rotten as to fall to pieces at the touch, some showing fractures made at the edges, as if in opening. while others have obviously been subjected to the action of fire. Charcoal, bones of fish and animals, and arrow-heads are scattered irregularly through the mass This is the general character of many such deposits that I have examined in other parts of the peninsula of Florida; for instance, on both banks of the St. John's, at its mouth, on Anastasia island, opposite St. Augustine, on the Manazce

river, and along the shores of Tampa bay. The two most remarkable in the State are near New Smyrna, on the Mosquito lagoon, and near the mouth of the Crystal river, on the Gulf coast. Of the first of these I have a description written by a gentleman of intelligence resident on the spot, and of the second a report of an investigation made by the State geologist of Florida, Mr. F. L. Dancy, to whom I am also indebted for the former account. That near New Smyrna, called Turtle mound, is, says my informant, "thirty feet high, composed almost altogether of separate oyster shells, it being rare to find the two valves together. There are, also, conch and clam shells, both of which are, however, exceedingly scarce. That it is artificial there is no doubt on my mind. Some eight or ten years since we experienced a gale in this section of country which caused that portion of the mound facing the river, the steepest part, to fall and be washed away. Being there a few days afterwards, I took considerable pains to examine the face of it, and found, as low as the bottom and as high up as I could observe, numberless pieces of Indian pottery and quantities of bones, principally of fish, but no human ones; also charcoal and beds of ashes. The one on which I reside, opposite New Smyrna, is precisely of the same formation. Having had occasion some time back to dig a hole into it six or eight feet deep, I found precisely the same contents that I have described at Turtle mound, with the addition of some few flint arrow-heads." Of the remarkable mound on Crystal river, four miles from its mouth, Mr. Dancy writes: "The marsh of the river at that point is twenty yards wide to the firm land, at which point this mound commences to rise. It is on all sides nearly perpendicular, the faces covered with brush and trees, to which the visitors have to cling to effect an ascent. It is about forty feet in height, the top surface nearly level, about thirty feet in diameter, and covered with magnolia, live oak, and other forest trees, some of them four feet in diameter. Its form is that of a truncated cone, and, as far as can be judged from external appearance, it is composed exclusively of oyster shells and vegetable mould. These shells are all separated. The mound was evidently thrown up by the Indians for a lookout, as the gulf can be distinctly seen from its summit. There are no oysters growing at this time within four or five miles of it." This is evidently altogether different from the mere refuse heaps referred to elsewhere.

On both banks of the St. John's river, as far south as Lake Harney, the traveller finds shell bluffs, sometimes closely simulating artificial erections, quite regular in outline, not unfrequently twenty-five or thirty feet high. They are composed almost exclusively of the helix, with a few unios. The Brock House at Enterprise is built upon such a natural deposit, and south of it, between the large and small sulphur springs, some two hundred yards from the lake, there is another, and a third on the left bank, near the exit of Lake Harney, about a quarter of a mile from a very large and ancient Indian mound. The native tribes chose the shell bluffs of natural formation as favorite burial spots, and hence ancient relics are constantly found in them, but a practiced eye can readily detect the disturbance of the natural deposition of the shells. This is strikingly exemplified in the shell bluffs on Tampa bay, at the mouth of Manatee river, composed chiefly of a species of Pyrula. The sea face has been washed away, and the ancient graves, containing bones, charcoal, and unbroken utensils are distinctly seen cutting through the clean, original strata. On the contrary, in the refuse shell-heaps human bones are never seen, and very rarely unbroken arrowheads or pottery.

While attached to the army of the Cumberland, during the late rebellion, I had abundant opportunity of ascertaining the prevalence of shell-heaps along the Tennessee river and its tributaries. They are very frequent at and above the Muscle Shoals, and are composed almost exclusively of the shells of the freshwater muscle, (Unio virginiana, Lamarck?) Close to the famous Nick-a-jack cave is the railway station of Shellmound, so called from an uncommonly large

deposit of shells, probably left by the Cherokees, who so long used this spot as one of the headquarters of the Overhill tribes. It was taken by our troops as a military post, and embankments thrown up around the summit of the mound. The excavations made for this purpose abundantly proved its wholly artificial origin. In all instances I found the shell-heaps close to the water courses, on the rich alluvial bottom lands. The mollusks had evidently been opened by placing them on a fire. The Tennessee muscle is margaratiferous, and there is no doubt but that it was from this species that the early tribes obtained the hoards of pearls which the historians of De Soto's exploration estimated by bushels, and which were so much prized as ornaments. (See Irving. Conquest of Florida, p. 246.) It is still a profitable employment, the jewellers buying them at prices varying from one to fifty dollars.

The great size of some of these accumulations may furnish some conception of the length of time required for their gradual accretion, and consequently of the period during which these shores have been inhabited. That at the mouth of the Altamaha river covers ten acres of ground, and contains about S0,000 cubic yards. Many of them equal in cubical contents the largest mounds of the Ohio valley. That at the mouth of the Pickawaxent creek, eighty miles from Washington, is so considerable that a kiln was erected many years since for the purpose of burning the shells into lime, and may be still in operation. On account of their occasional very considerable magnitude, some geologists have been inclined to deny or discredit their artificial origin, and have pointed to the existence of similar deposits presenting indubitable characteristics of lacustrine and litoral formation, such as the oyster-shell heaps of southern New Jersey, (see Second Annual Report of the Geological Survey of New Jersey, pp. 76, 84,) and the beds of Gnathodon cuneatus at Mobile harbor, (American Journal Science, second series, vol. xi, p. 164,) but the distinctions I have pointed out will dispel any doubt upon this subject.

In estimating the comparative archæological value of these monuments of the aboriginal tribes, with a view to ascertain the amount of light they may be expected to throw on the habits and social condition of their constructors, we must place them far below the similar remains in the north of Europe. These latter reveal to us a race of whom we possess few or no other memorials, and are a principal source of information concerning nations whose very existence was forgotten; but my somewhat extended studies of this class of American antiquities convince me that they are the work of known tribes of Indians concerning whom we possess many and superior sources of information, and that they only serve to illustrate and confirm the knowledge we already have of their social status and means of subsistence.

SKETCH OF ANCIENT EARTHWORKS.

BY I. DILLe, of ohiO.

THE archæological remains of the Mississippi valley, traced from the lakes south and southwesterly, exhibit a progressive change of structure and outline from the most simple to the most complicated. At the mouth of Chagrin river, on Lake Erie, a bold promontory is surrounded by a fosse and parapet, which were obviously intended for defence. The choice of the site and the character of the structure are such as a military leader of a rude people would be likely to adopt. From the lake to central Ohio the ancient remains are exclusively of a defensive or of a sepulchral character, and no mystery attaches to the purpose for which they were intended. Still further north, on the southern shore of Lake Superior, the working of the copper mines, with extensive explorations, leaves us in no doubt as to the object of the copper implements and ornaments found all over that country. Nothing has been observed which indicates that the makers understood the fusing of metals, or of casting them into desired forms. With the exception of the bowl of a spoon, found in the great mound at Grave creek, on the Ohio, and of doubtful origin, no useful article is known to have been made of copper by the ancient people. This metal was probably regarded as a malleable and durable stone, to which could be given any desired form by the hammer alone, and its use was ornamental, or connected with official or sacerdotal dignity.

But there is a large class of antiquities, comprising fully four-fifths of all these remains found from central Ohio southward and westward, east of the Mississippi, that we cannot refer to any purpose or use of any races of men, or of their institutions, religious, political, or social.

Of this class the ancient works in the vicinity of Newark, Ohio, are the most easterly and northerly. The great extent and variety of these works in Licking and Perry counties show clearly that this section of country contained a large and industrious population. Sepulchral mounds, differing in form and height, abound everywhere, and are especially numerous in the southeastern part of Licking and northeastern part of Perry.

The great stone mound about eight miles south of Newark, and about one mile east of the reservoir on the Licking summit of the Ohio canal, was one of the most remarkable structures in the State. It was composed of stones, in their natural shape, as they were found on the adjacent grounds, laid up, without cement, to the height of from 40 to 50 feet, upon a circular base of 182 feet diameter. This was surrounded by a low fosse, and parapet of an ovate form, with a gateway on the east end, leaving a large open area on the west end of the mound, within the enclosure. In the early settlement of this part of the State the old pioneers say this mound was a great resort for rattlesnakes; and it is told of an old woman who lived near by, that in the spring of the year she used to rake up the forest leaves around the foot of the mound, and when the weather became warm enough for the snakes to come out to bask in the sun she would set fire to the leaves, which so infuriated the snakes that they would, in their madness, rush into the fire and perish.

When the canal reservoir, which is seven or eight miles long, was made, it

was deemed necessary to protect the east bank from abrasion with stone, so that it might be used for the purposes of navigation by tow-boats. The nearest stones available for this purpose were those of the great mound. During the years 1831-32 from 50 to 75 teams were employed in removing this mass of material. It is said that from 10,000 to 15,000 wagon loads were carried away. As the workmen approached the base of the mound they discovered 15 or 16 small earthmounds around or near the circumference of the base, and a similar one in the centre. Nothing else was noticed worthy of attention, as was then thought, and the small mounds were levelled to the ground.

No further examination was made into any of these mounds until about 1850, when some of the farmers in the vicinity devoted a part of a day to an exploration of them. They opened two which were not covered by the rubbish. In one they found human bones, with some fluviatile shells, and in the other they dug down to a hard, white fire-clay. Two or three feet below the surface of this they came to a trough similar to those formerly made in the west for feeding pigs, by hollowing out a log. This was overlaid by small logs of wood to serve as a cover, and in it was found the skeleton of a man, around which appeared the impression of a coarse cloth. Within this trough were fifteen copper rings and a breastplate of the same metal. The wood of the trough and covering was in a state of good preservation. The clay which environed it was not only im pervious to air, but also to water. Satisfied with their discovery, the explorers covered up the ancient coffin, and all remained undisturbed until the summer of 1860, when the late David Wyrick, with the aid of two or three men, raised the rude coffin with its covering of logs and brought them to town. The small round logs that overlaid this sarcophagus were so well preserved that the ends showed the axe marks, and the steepness of the kerf seemed to indicate that some instru ment sharper than the stone axe, found throughout the west, had been employed to cut them. The woody fibre of the coffin remained firm, but the annulars were partially separated, so as to be split apart.

In the following November Mr. Wyrick, with five other men, met at this spot and made further exploration into this mound. They found several articles of stone, among which was a stone box enclosing an engraved tablet in unknown characters; a mortar, made of the fine-grained sandstone of the country; and several neatly-worked stones, similar to a mason's plumb bob. The e graved stone has given rise to much speculation as to its origin and significa tion, with much division of opinion.

The central mound in the base of the large stone mound was opened in the presence of the writer of this article. A great number of human bones were found in it, but no other relics worthy of note. These bones were all deposited in, or covered by, the humus peat from the adjacent swamp, now covered by the reservoir. It is remarkable that all of those mounds which have been ex plored contained earth from a distance. The pipe or fire clay is found in place at Flint Ridge, six or eight miles distant, and none of that peculiar variety is known in place nearer. This ancient work we know was for burial use, bu we know not what faith or what personal distinction induced the construction a mausoleum of so much labor.

Just west of the town of Newark two confluents of the Licking river, the Raccoon and South Fork, unite, and between them is a rich valley of some thousands of acres, which is the site of the most elaborate and extensive anciens works known in the west. From the streams the land rises by natural terraces to the general level of the plain, and previous to the construction of the cal on the second alluvial bench, on the east side of the great works, was a series low mounds, so low, indeed, that a casual observer would not suspect the be mounds. The canal embraced these mounds in its range, and the first bek west of the town was constructed on the site of one of them. In the pit for it in the spring of 1828, a deposit of human bones was discovers

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